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T O P I C R E V I E W

holcombeyates

Does anyone have any background on the Lunar 3D Topographical maps that were prepared for the Moon landing missions (certainly for 15, 16 and 17).

I acquired one in 2011 for Apollo 17 via Goldberg Auctions and it is in need of some restoration — any ideas of suggestions about how I go about this?

I understand that many were made at the time but there are few remaining today. Any info appreciated!

GACspaceguy

We picked up the Apollo 15 map at the same auction and you can see our display technique here.

I spoke to the people at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville as they had them on display for a while. They said that the display had florescent bulbs used for the lighting and the UV from that display made the maps brittle, to the place that the displays were removed and the maps stored. They said they had no way to stabilized them so there are no plans for any restoration.

I say that to say, it would be very difficult to restore the map and the best solution is to display the map as is and keep it out of direct sunlight. Our map had a small crack and tried to fix it only to watch it grow a little. I decided to go with the old rule "better is good's worst enemy."

Our display is located in a hallway that does not get any direct sunlight and the hall light is rarely used.

holcombeyates

Many thanks for the info. These are interesting pieces. I will frame mine — but really to protect the borders from any further cracks propagating. Aside from the maps listed at the Goldeberg auction the only other example I have seen sold at Bonhams in 2008, another Apollo 17 example.

My Apollo 17 map made it across the Atlantic with no additional damage — I think in hindsight that I was very lucky.

I was able to show my example to Gene Cernan when he was in the UK in October. He signed it and also placed an 'X' to mark the actual landing spot (the approximate landing site is shown in bold type). He said that he had a garage full of these maps at one point!